Chapter 77: After the First Day
While the Water Kingdom’s commander was reeling from this
possibility, Jai Yuan’s eyes glinted.
He had fought too many duels to not know when the enemy had
realized something wrong.
However, just as he began to worry, the Water Kingdom’s
commander spoke up.
“Hmph, so you’ve actually trained in two Songs. Quite an
interesting fellow.”
Upon hearing this, Jia Yuan almost laughed out loud. It was
true that Jia Yuan would one day have access to the four elements and even be
able to access the sword element, but these were only variations of his one
original Song, the Song of Swords.
As for what this Water Kingdom commander was thinking about,
it was simply impossible!
As such, Jia Yuan decided to play along.
Jia Yuan began to ramble and boast. “Hmph, so what if I have
cultivated two Songs? Some of my older brothers have trained in three! If they
were here, they’d stomp you into the ground.”
“Hmph, you’re lucky I only have a Song of Fire and a Song of
Water. If I was able to cultivate a third, just my physical attacks would be
able to pound you into the ground, hmph!”
Jia Yuan boasted these “facts” with all of his heart, trying
to sound as arrogant and proud as he could.
This information sent the Water Kingdom commander’s mind
into a daze. Could this be true? Could this brat’s words be true? How come they
hadn’t seen any other fighters with two or more Songs at their disposal?
Was… was the Fire Kingdom keeping them as a secret weapon???
The more the Water Kingdom commander thought, the more
panicked he became. He had never heard of something like this before!
At this time, a horn sounded from the Water Kingdom and Earth
Kingdom’s camp.
The Water Kingdom commander cursed. It was the signal to
retreat for the day!
“Alright guys, we’re getting out of here!”
The cultivators of the Water Kingdom turned tail and quickly
dashed away.
Jia Yuan shouted. “Spectres of the Wind, don’t chase!”
He knew that the Spectres of Wind were still thirsting for
blood to avenge Quan Zen, but if they chased, it would just result in more
deaths.
The armies fighting in the main battlefield were backing off
as well.
The first day of fighting had ended!
As the sun set, Jia Yuan, Fan Meng, Lin Zheng, and some
other officers sat in the tent that served as their headquarters.
One of the officers was currently reporting the casualties
their side had sustained.
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“Of the Air Kingdom’s 1st Army, we sustained an estimated
18 thousand casualties and another 2 thousand injured. Of the Fire Kingdom’s 2nd
Army, they sustained 16 thousand casualties and another 3 thousand injured.”
“Of the Spectres of Wind, we lost our commander Quan Zen,
and another 700 were killed, while 100 were injured. Of the Burning Legion,
they sustained an estimated 60 casualties, with 5 injured.”
Lin Zheng and the Air Kingdom’s General glanced at each
other.
The Air Kingdom’s General Tian Can looked at Jia Yuan. “How
come our Spectres of Wind sustained so many casualties, yet your Burning Legion
came away mostly unscathed?”
Jia Yuan nodded toward Tian Can. “This can be attributed to
what each battalion did during the battle. Quan Zen saw that we had a favorable
position to join the main battle, so he volunteered his Spectres of Wind to
delay the combined Earth and Water forces while my battalion focused on
wreaking havoc on the main battlefield.”
Tian Can sighed. “So it was this way… it’s just like Quan
Zen to do such a thing. Ugh, how am I supposed to report this to my superiors?
Our own special forces took so many casualties on the first day… we even lost a
commander…”
Jia Yuan shrugged. “That’s your problem, not mine. Didn’t we
do well overall on the day? They were even forced to retreat.”
Tian Can looked towards another officer. “You, do you have
the estimates for the enemy’s casualties?”
The officer stepped forward and announced with a strict,
staccato voice. “We estimate that the Earth Kingdom’s army sustained about 25
thousand casualties, while the Water Kingdom should have sustained about 23
thousand casualties. From reports from our Spectres of Wind, the Earth Kingdom’s
Iron Guard lost their commander, along with 200 of their Iron Guard soldiers.
As for the Storm Sentinels, they sustained casualties of about 600.”
Tian Can and Lin Zheng looked at Jia Yuan. “Oh? The Iron
Guard’s commander died? How did this happen?”
Jia Yuan shrugged. “I snuck up on him as he was fighting
some Spectres of Wind and got lucky.”
Tian Can laughed, although there was a hint of bitterness in
it. “Alright, alright. It looks like I won’t have to hang my head in front of
my peers after all. All in all, the first day can be said to have been a
success.”
“What pieces of information did we pick up from the battle?”
And so the talk turned to strategies for the second day.
Meanwhile, across the Shining Plains, some officers were arguing
inside a formation of rocks.
